Crooks' Character in Of Mice and Men Essay

Explain how the character of Crooks is represented by Steinbeck in chapter 4 of Of Mice and Men

In this essay I will look at the background of the book, about when and where it was written. I will look at the character of Crooks; explain who he is, what he does and how Steinbeck uses Crooks to represent the loneliness and racism of his time. I will also look at the different techniques which Steinbeck uses to show the character of Crooks in chapter 4.

The book Of Mice and Men was written in 1937 during The Great Depression in America. The Great Depression started in October 1929 when the stock market crashed. Farming income fell some 50 percent, and in 1932 approximately one out of every four Americans was unemployed. By 1933 the whole value of stock on the New York Stock Exchange was less than a fifth of what it had been at its peak in 1929, the novel is set in California. This was where most people migrated to during the 1930s and 40s, most migrants ended up competing for seasonal jobs picking crops at extremely low wages.

George and Lennie are the main characters in the book they are migrant workers, but in chapter 4 Steinbeck focuses on Crooks. Crooks is the stable buck the stable buck is the man who looks after the horses, but buck was another word for black man, so all the stable bucks were black men. This suggests that being a stable buck meant you were looked down upon by white people; it wasnt a job that required skill so white people felt they were too good for it.

Crooks is a permanent worker, not only is he called a nigger by Curleys wife but hes also a cripple. Steinbeck gives a good description of Crooks appearance and his disability His body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine. Crooks must have been in pain as Steinbeck says Now and then he poured a few drops of liniment into his pink-palmed hand and reached under his shirt to rub again. Steinbeck uses alliteration with the letter P to emphasise the difference in colour between Crooks palm and the rest of his body.

The words Steinbeck uses to describe Crooks wouldnt be acceptable in the 21st Century, such as nigger, negro and cripple. The colour of his skin plus the fact he is the only black man on the ranch means hes very lonely, everyone is lonely but Crooks has a different type of loneliness. He isnt allowed onto the bunk-house to play cards as hes black, all the other workers share a bunk-house but Crooks has his own room, which is a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn. Steinbeck uses lists to describe Crooks possessions a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock... Nobody has ever visited Crooks in his room, so he has no company other than the horses. Steinbeck uses onomatopoeia to show the sounds made by the horses which are Crooks only companions feet stomping, teeth champing on hay, the rattle of halter chains. So when Lennie appeared Crooks wasnt very welcoming, and when Candy came he was shocked and said Thiss the first time I ever been in his room.

The loneliness and feel of rejection has made Crooks cruel and bitter. Crooks is cruel to Lennie when he teases him about George leaving him. I said spose George went into town tonight and you never heard of him no more. Crooks has had people bully him his whole life, yet he still bullied Lennie with pleasure in his torture. Steinbeck uses a metaphor to describe how intently Crooks was affecting Lennie Crooks bored in on him.

Crooks is very bitter, he may crave companionship now but what makes his situation worse is that he has known companionship when he was younger with his family. My old man had a chicken ranch, bout ten acres... There wasnt another coloured family for miles around. And now there aint a coloured man on this ranch... All he wants is a person to talk to, to keep him company, so he has someone other than he horses as his companions. Crooks is a cynical man, he doesnt expect much from the world or the people in it. Hes very pessimistic about George and Lennies dream as he says An never a God damn one of em ever gets it.

Over the years Crooks has built a layer of protection around him, so people cannot hurt him by what they say. When Curleys wife threatened to wrongly accuse him of something, possibly rape, he, seemed to grow smaller.

Crooks is a minor character of the novel but he is important because he is used to represent the loneliness and racism of Steinbecks time. Steinbeck uses different techniques to show the character of Crooks, for example, he uses lists to describe Crooks possessions and disability. He also uses alliteration to show the colour of Crooks skin. Crooks was a lonely man, he wasnt allowed into the bunk-house where all the other men stayed, he had his own room in the barn. Nobody visited him so his only companions were the horses. Crooks is a cruel and bitter man who is also cynical about the world and the people in it. He bullied Lennie by teasing him about George not coming back from town. Hes bitter because he has known companionship when he was younger with his family, he just wants someone to talk to and keep him company. He is cynical about George and Lennies dream as he believes that nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody never gets no land.